BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Slovakia's main political parties have reached a deal to approve changes to an EU bailout fund this week, the main opposition leader said Wednesday, just one day after parliament rejected the proposal, causing the government to fall. "Slovakia will ratify the EU bailout fund without any problems. I believe it will happen on Friday this week at the latest," Fico said. Tuesday's vote failed because a junior coalition party, the Freedom and Solidarity party, was against it. In a desperate effort to force that party to vote in favor, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova had tied the vote on the bailout to a confidence vote in the government. When the vote failed, her year-old government collapsed. With the government now defunct — and the promise of early elections — Fico said his party will vote in favor of the bailout fund, which all 16 other members of the eurozone have already supported. The leaders of three coalition parties — Mikulas Dzurinda of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union, which Radicova belongs to; Jan Figel of the Christian Democrats and Bela Bugar of a party of ethnic Hungarians — confirmed the deal later Wednesday. "We had to pay a political price," Bugar said. "And the early election is the price." The announcement came hours after EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on Slovak political parties "to rise above the positioning of short-term politics, and seize the next occasion to ensure a swift adoption of the new agreement." They said the enhancement of the euro440 billion ($600 billion) European Financial Stability Facility is crucial "to preserve financial stability in the euro area. And that is in the interest of all euro countries, including the Slovak people."
Access Investments-Building Awareness - European Union-ROMANIA
Thursday, October 13, 2011
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Slovakia's main political parties have reached a deal to approve changes to an EU bailout fund this week, the main opposition leader said Wednesday, just one day after parliament rejected the proposal, causing the government to fall. "Slovakia will ratify the EU bailout fund without any problems. I believe it will happen on Friday this week at the latest," Fico said. Tuesday's vote failed because a junior coalition party, the Freedom and Solidarity party, was against it. In a desperate effort to force that party to vote in favor, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova had tied the vote on the bailout to a confidence vote in the government. When the vote failed, her year-old government collapsed. With the government now defunct — and the promise of early elections — Fico said his party will vote in favor of the bailout fund, which all 16 other members of the eurozone have already supported. The leaders of three coalition parties — Mikulas Dzurinda of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union, which Radicova belongs to; Jan Figel of the Christian Democrats and Bela Bugar of a party of ethnic Hungarians — confirmed the deal later Wednesday. "We had to pay a political price," Bugar said. "And the early election is the price." The announcement came hours after EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on Slovak political parties "to rise above the positioning of short-term politics, and seize the next occasion to ensure a swift adoption of the new agreement." They said the enhancement of the euro440 billion ($600 billion) European Financial Stability Facility is crucial "to preserve financial stability in the euro area. And that is in the interest of all euro countries, including the Slovak people."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia—Slovak lawmakers held up the expansion of the euro zone's bailout fund after the 16 other members ratified the changes, throwing up a new roadblock to the Continent's efforts to tame its debt crisis.
Euroview: Slovakia's EFSF vote has now been linked to a confidence vote in the government itself as local politics take a dramatic turn. A 'no' vote still can't be ruled out, setting the scene for a repeat vote. But when?
The development highlights the fragility of proposed solutions to Europe's debt crisis, as well as political tensions among European leaders and voters. Politicians were working on a deal to pass the legislation as early as this week.
The deadlock in Slovakia complicates European leaders' aim of reaching a breakthrough deal at their Oct. 23 summit on a package of measures to tackle the crisis—a package expected to cover the recapitalization of European banks, a push to resolve Greece's debt crisis, and new proposals to maximize the bailout fund's impact.
Post a Comment